Wood-pulp-forming machine.



W- GATKE.

WOOD PULP FORMING MACHINE.

APPLICATION HLED MAR. 16. 1916.

2 SHEETS- SHEET 1- Wz'llmiz $42k Patented Feb. 13, 1917.

61cm we W. GATKE.

WOOD PULP FORMING'MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 16. 1916.

Patented Feb. 13, 1917.

WZZ/Z'Jihdffi 1 WILLIAM GATKE, F PORTLAND, OREGON.

WOOD- PULP FORMING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 13, 1917.

Application filed March 16, 1916. Serial No. 84,556.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM GATKE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Portland, in the county of Multnomah and State of Oregon,have invented a new and I useful Wood Pulp Forming Machine to Form andDry Various Articles of Diiferent.

1 Shapes and Sizes Made from Wood-Pulp, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for forming articles from wood pulp,and its object is to provide a simple and efficient machine of thiskind.

The object stated is attained by means of a novel combination andarrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed, and inorder that the same may be better-understood: reference is had to theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine, partlybroken away; Fig. 2 is a cross-section of one of the male and femaleformer units in cooperative posi-' tion; Fig; 3 is a plan view of a'fragment of one of the male former units; Fig. 4 is a longitudinalsection of one of the female former units with a male former unit incooperative relation therewith; Fig 5 is a cross section of the dryingoven and one of the female formers therein; Fig. 6 is alongitudinalsection of a fragment of the oven, and Fig. 7 is a plan view of afragment of one of the femaleformer units.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the frame of themachinecomprises standards 10 having suitable braces and connections; At oneend of the frame is mounted a hearing 11 for the shaft 12 of a formingwheel, said shaft being also providedwith a drive pulley 13 connected bya belt 14 to a suitable power source. The forming wheel-consists of arim 15, a hub .16 and spokes 17... On the periphery of the rim aremounted the maleformers which operate in conjunction with female formersor molds, which latter are connected in a manner to form anxendlessbelt, the same being trained totravel partly around in forming wheel.to'bring the two sets of formers in cooperative relation, as will bepresently described. The drawings show one forming wheel and one .beltof molds, but these parts may be duplicated ifv a twinmachine isdesired, which can be readily? done by mounting two forming wheels onthe shaft 12, with the pulley 13 therebetween, and providing a mold beltfor each of said wheels. The capacity of the machine can be furtherincreased by increasing the number of forming elements.

The male formers are composed of a series of units mounted on theperiphery of the rim 15, each unit comprising a hollow body 18 havingoutstanding hollow. protuberances 19, the latter being shaped tocorrespond to the shape of the articles to be molded. The parts 19 haveperforations 20,

and in the ends of the body 18 are drain openings 21. These units aresecured on the perlphery of the rim 15 by screws 22, or any othersuitable means, and they extend entirely around the rim.

The female formers or molds are composed. of a series of units, each ofwhich comprises a body 23 having one of its sides shaped to conform tothe male formers, said side having a series of mold cavities 24 shapedand dimensioned to permit the formers 19 to enter the same. edges ofthe'body 23, at the ends thereof, extend pins 25 for the attachment oflinks 26 WhlCh connect the units in theform of an endless belt or chain.The body 23 has a raised rim 27 to hold the charge of pulp in thecavities 24. When one of the units 18 comes oppositea unit 23, the parts19 enter the cavities24 and shape the pulp in the latter, and the baseportion of the unit 18 comes inside the rim 27, and by its engagementtherewith propels the endless belt of molds From the side forward, andalso properly centers the parts 19 in the cavities 24. The belt istherefore extent to which the protuberances '19 enter thecavities 24.During the molding operation, the water is pressedout of the pulp'andescapes by-flthe'way of the perforations 20 and-the drain openings 21.

The endless belt or chain of molds herein- 7 before described passesover three idler pulleys 30, and also over guide rollers 31 carried bythe frame 10, and so positioned and arranged that the upper run of thebelt is held close enough to the periphery of the rim 13 to bring themale formers and the molds in proper cooperative relation. The upper runof the belt, where it leads from the forming wheel, is held horizontallyby the guide rollers here, and this portion of the belt passes through adrying oven to dry the shaped pulp in the mold cavities 24.

The drying oven is an inclosure carried by the frame 10 of the machine,and composed of a top 32, a bottom 33 and sides 34:,

the inclosure being open at its ends to allow the belt of molds to passtherethrough.

Gas burner pipes 35 extend across the oven,

above and below the belt, they being suitably connected to a supply pipe36. It will be understood of course, that any other 2 means may beprovided for heating the oven,

or for applying heat to the belt of molds as it passes through theinclosure.

The pulp is fed to the belt of molds through a spout 37 which dischargeson the upper run of the belt adjacent to the point where it comes intocooperative relation with the former wheel.

Upon passing through the oven, the

shaped articles are thoroughly dried, and so when the belt of moldspasses over the idler pulley to the rear of the oven, the mold units aretilted, whereupon the finished articles drop out of the mold cavities,to be taken up by a conveyer or other suitable device,'which latter hasnot been illustrated as it forms no part of the present invention.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown, but it will beunderstood that various changes and modifications may be made withoutdeparture from the spirit or scope of the invention as claimedhereinafter. The apparatus is adapted for molding articles of variousshapes by providing corresponding mold and former units.

I claim:

1. A molding apparatus comprising a series of mold units, and a seriesof former units cooperating therewith and shaped to enter the cavitiesof the molds, one of said series being connected to form an endlessbelt, a rotatable element on the periphery of which the other series ofunits is mounted, and means for guiding the belt past the rotatableelement in cooperative relation therewith.

2. A molding apparatus comprising a series of mold units, and a seriesof former units cooperating therewith and shaped to enter. the cavitiesof the molds, one of said series being connected to form an endlessbelt, a rotatable element on the periphery of which the other series ofunits is mounted,

means for guiding the belt past the rotatable element in cooperativerelation therewith, driving means for said element, and cooperatingmeans on the units of the respective series for driving the belt fromthe rotatable element.

3. A molding apparatus comprising a series of mold units, and a seriesof former units cooperating therewith and shaped to enter the moldcavities, one of said series being connected to form an endless belt, arotatable element on the periphery of which the other series of units ismounted, means for guiding the belt past the rotatable element incooperative relation therewith, and a drying oven through which the beltpasses after leaving the rotatable element.

4. A molding apparatus comprising a series of mold units, and a seriesof former units cooperating therewith and shaped to enter the moldcavities, one of said series being connected to form an endless belt, arotatable element on the periphery of which the other series of units ismounted, means for guiding the belt past the rotatable element, and adrying oven through which the belt passes after leaving therotatable-element, said oven being an inclosure open at its ends for theingress and egress of the belt, and spaced heating elements in theinclosure between which elements the belt passes.

5. A molding apparatus comprising a series of mold units, and a seriesof former units cooperating therewith, the mold units being connected toform an endless belt and 10!] each mold unit having a series of cavitiesprovided with a raised rim, a rotatable element on the periphery ofwhich the former units are mounted, each of said former units having aseries of protuberances shaped to enter the mold cavities and providedwith a base portion engageable with the mold units inside the rimsthereof for driving the belt, and means for guiding the belt past therotatable element in cooperative relation 11 therewith.

6. A molding apparatus comprising a series of mold units, and a seriesof former units cooperating therewith, the mold units being connected toform an endless belt and 1 each mold unit having a series of cavitiesprovided with a raised rim, a rotatable element on the periphery ofwhich the former units are mounted, each of the former units having aseries of protuberances shaped to enter the mold cavities and providedwith a base portion engageable with the mold units inside the rimsthereof for driving the belt, said rims having an internal shoulder andthe base portions of the former units havin shoulders which are oppositethe shoul ers of the rim and coiiperate therewith to limit the extent towhich the protuberances enter the mold cavities.

7. A molding apparatus comprising an series of mold units, and a seriesof former ings and having hollow protuberances which units cooperatingtherewith, vone of said are perforated and shaped to enter the moldseries being connected to form an endless cavities, and means forguiding the belt past 10 belt, a rotatable element on the periphery therotatable element in cooperative relation 5 of which the other series oflimits is mounted, therewith.

each of said last-mentioned units comprising a hollow body provided withdrain open- WILLIAM GATKE.

